By Matthew Wilson
A huge crowd assembled at the Finn Valley Centre in Stranorlar on Saturday night as Fight Night at the Valley 2 took centre stage.
Promoter Jason Quigley alongside Sheer Sports put together a superb lineup for the event which saw six fights take place on the night.
There were some brilliant bouts on a night where a packed out Finn Valley Centre made themselves heard and enjoyed the showcase of boxing on display.
The night commenced with a super middleweight bout between Dungloe’s Danny Boyle and Richard Vaczi from Budapest in Hungary.
The opening three rounds of this four round fight were finely poised, with the two fighters exchanging blows to one-another.
In the final round, the Hungarian boxer looked to be tiring and Boyle looked in control, helping him to secure a 40-36 victory on the judges’ scorecards.
Next up was a super lightweight fight between Derry’s Simon Clarke and Marcin Ficner from Poland.
The Derry man was making his professional debut and he was fast out of the blocks in the ring, putting his opponent under pressure in the opening round.
The next three rounds followed a similar pattern but the Polish boxer showed determination and battled until the end.
However, it was Clarke who secured the win on points, with the judges deeming him as a 40-36 winner on the night.
The third fight of the evening saw Limerick man Kian Hedderman take to the canvas to face Bartosz Oles from Poland.
Both boxers felt their way into the fight in the opening round but Hedderman soon found his groove.
In the early stages of the second round, the Limerick fighter landed a big body shot on his Polish opponent which saw him go to the floor.
The referee called a halt to proceedings, sealing the win for Hedderman and extending his professional record to 3-0.
The fourth fight of the evening saw Ardara native David Weir enter the ring for his home debut where he faced Dominic Pajaczek.
The Donegal man only commenced his boxing journey a year ago and he’s made a bright start, earning himself a pair of victories in Dubai.
Weir had a big support behind him at the Finn Valley Centre and he made a promising start, applying early pressure on his opponent in the first round.
‘The Diamond’ continued this showing through round two and three, landing blows on Pajaczek, to record a split decision victory.
Next up was the co-main event of the card which saw Enniskillen’s Rhys Owens enter the ring for a bout with Mexico’s Erick Omar Lopez.
Both boxers gave as good as they got in the early stages of this six-round super featherweight fight. Owens landed a good hit on the head of Lopez in round two but the Mexican showed a smile on his face and battled back.
The chants in support of Owens began to roar around the Stranorlar venue and the Ernesider began to find his rhythm, putting together a number of superb combinations to put his opponent under pressure.
As the fight progressed, the Fermanagh man grew in confidence and had Lopez on the ropes on a few occasions but the determined Mexican continued to stay strong.
However, it was Owens who saw his arm raised at the end of the bout, registering a comfortable win on the scorecards to stretch his unbeaten start in the professional game to 4-0.
The main-event of the night saw Strabane’s Danny Duffy take on another Mexican opponent in the form of Lakshmy Zaragoza Contreras.
Duffy was meant to headline the first Fight Night at the Valley but a late injury ruled him out on that occasion.
He made his return to action on Saturday night and it was a controlled start to the fight by both boxers in this contest.
The Tyrone man grew into the fight in rounds two and three, staying composed and putting together some good combinations to give him the edge at the midway point.
The momentum was with Duffy and with a vocal support behind him, he was moving swiftly around the ring and managed to land a cut on Contreras in the fourth.
The Strabane bantamweight maneuvered his way through round five and six with confidence and secured a 60-54 victory, bringing him to 4-0 in his professional career.